We'd like to tell you something about us, and how we
work with our guests to create memorable travel experiences.

First a little history: In 1988 Paulette Hurdliks
maiden trip to the Basque Country fueled her desire to create
what
is now known as Cobblestone Small Group Tours.

Cobblestone was the first U.S.-based agency to specialize
in small-group tours to the Basque homeland. And she
was attracted to everything Basque — the food, culture,
wine, countryside, and most of all, the hospitality of the
people. She discovered this part of Spain and France to be
unfamiliar to many other travelers. As a gesture of her affection
for this country, she developed what is known today as the
Bilbao & Beyond tour.

In 1995, Paulette teamed up with another experienced traveler
— Denise Germer, who was off exploring other parts of
the world — equally as exotic and intriguing. Together,
they since have added more regularly scheduled tours
to Cobblestones annual schedule.

Why more than
30% of Our Guests
Come From Referrals
Our home office is in New Orleans, but our hearts belong to
the places we love: the Basque
Country, Catalan
Spain, Northern and Central Portugal, and Sicily.

We established our company in 1988, offering small-group
tours to areas rarely visited by most Americans. Today, we
distinguish ourselves by giving our guests an authentic experience.

Our regularly scheduled
tours take place primarily in spring/early summer and
fall. Depending on the tour, we accept between four to 21 guests.
Our small groups enable each guest to enjoy a more customized
pace.

We spend a minimum of two years immersing ourselves in a
new region to create an itinerary of places rarely traveled.
We also hand-select our
guides. We choose them for their knowledge, organizational
skills, dynamic personalities, and English language proficiency.

Paulette Hurdlik and Denise Germer, co-owners of Cobblestone
Small Group Tours, painstakingly oversee all details of each
tour.